Re: How many people can converse at a single time? 10? 20?

Re: How many people can converse at a single time? 10? 20?

Good luck finding anything else that is THAT efficient and can communicate LIVE with THAT many people via voice at the same time. And to think that Nextel did it all with a 2G network. Make you wonder why Sprint's 3G network can't do it, doesn't it?

Re: How many people can converse at a single time? 10? 20?

quasijedi wrote:

Good luck finding anything else that is THAT efficient and can communicate LIVE with THAT many people via voice at the same time. And to think that Nextel did it all with a 2G network. Make you wonder why Sprint's 3G network can't do it, doesn't it?

Simple. Motorola designed the network around those capabilities. Actual continuous voice calls, text messaging, and data have been tacked on. The base is designed around the push to talk aspects of the iDEN standard. A car with a transmission designed for low speed quick shifts (iDEN 2G) isn't going to work well at high speeds (3G CDMA), and vice versa.

The CDMA equivalent push to talk, Q-Chat, uses the data network to transmit data packets with the push to talk voice information. The limitations are that for the almost instantaneous demands of PTT tech you need a lot of bandwidth and data redundancy to accomplish this. A 3G network is on the very low end of what is required for this to operate over a data network and gets saturated pretty quickly, a 4G network has a lot more bandwidth and space for saturation however. Add to that MIMO and OFDM that tech like WiMax and LTE bring to the table and you have a lot more to work with. On top of the technical advances, Sprint also has a ton of spectrum available for the 4G network. So as more users are added to the network, congestion won't be as severe because the space can be shared more easily between every user.

Re: How many people can converse at a single time? 10? 20?

halcyoncmdr117 wrote:

quasijedi wrote:

Good luck finding anything else that is THAT efficient and can communicate LIVE with THAT many people via voice at the same time. And to think that Nextel did it all with a 2G network. Make you wonder why Sprint's 3G network can't do it, doesn't it?

Simple. Motorola designed the network around those capabilities. Actual continuous voice calls, text messaging, and data have been tacked on. The base is designed around the push to talk aspects of the iDEN standard. A car with a transmission designed for low speed quick shifts (iDEN 2G) isn't going to work well at high speeds (3G CDMA), and vice versa.

So let me get this right...

A car that has a higher gear setting won't be able to turn the same race as well as one that has a lower gear setting? That has to be the most ill-informed answer I've seen in the last week. Let's take history as a lesson first, shall we? Take the now defunct Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo vs the Nissan 300ZX Turbo. Both cars could carve up miles and miles of road. They did it differently though. Nissan has a smooth shifting, short throw design with somewhat underpowered turbos. The Dodge has a higher throwing shift points with moderately noticeable turbo lag, but SERIOUS turbo thrust. End result, while the cars operated differently on the road courses, they turned in IDENTICAL lap times! IDENTICAL! Nissan claimed that their beast was generated from their high performance race car teams. Dodge simply took a Mitsubishi concept design and added some good old Yankee polish, and brute force. The result...doing the same thing...IDENTICAL!

Now, let's apply that same thinking to SprintNextel. So you have 2G vs 3G. Phone calls on CDMA (3G) sound pretty much identical to those on iDEN (2G), despite the difference in how the networks were set up, right? Exactly. So, despite the differences, they are both able to deliver pretty much the same performance on voice. So, data and PTT is where the 2 differ. It's high shift vs low shift points, and lower powered lag-less turbos vs moderate lag, high thrust turbos.

And actually, if one does one's homework, Q-chat operated equally (and in certain cases, better than) to Nextel's iDEN PTT. However, the problems were interconnectivity from an international perspective, as well as lack of group connectivity. Plus, Q-chat was a bandwidth hog when it came to delivering the same performance that iDEN was able to muster.

Funny, when you look at data transmission, iDEN can be upgraded to 2.5G WiDEN, and to 3.5G (or...as T-Mobile calls it...4G-like) HSPA+. Now, last I checked, WiDEN would be equal to CDMA 1xrtt. HSPA+ is equal/superior to CDMA EVDO rev A. So...how can anyone argue that because the networks are different that they can't do the same things. It's bogus. Smoke and mirrors.

halcyoncmdr117 wrote:

The CDMA equivalent push to talk, Q-Chat, uses the data network to transmit data packets with the push to talk voice information. The limitations are that for the almost instantaneous demands of PTT tech you need a lot of bandwidth and data redundancy to accomplish this. A 3G network is on the very low end of what is required for this to operate over a data network and gets saturated pretty quickly, a 4G network has a lot more bandwidth and space for saturation however. Add to that MIMO and OFDM that tech like WiMax and LTE bring to the table and you have a lot more to work with. On top of the technical advances, Sprint also has a ton of spectrum available for the 4G network. So as more users are added to the network, congestion won't be as severe because the space can be shared more easily between every user.

Ok...wait a sec. What limited bandwidth in 3G are you talking about? Did you forget that Nextel brought with it a HUGE swath of 1.9Ghz spectrum with it to the merger, let alone 80% of the "4G" 2.5Ghz WiMAX that Clearwire now possesses? There was and is PLENTY of 3G spectrum. It's the backhaul, or lack of backhaul, that is causing Sprint's problems. And that backhaul problem is also wreaking havoc on Clearwire's ability to deliver 4G speeds as well. While MIMO and OFDM should enhance transmission, they do NOT improve backhaul. And that's always been Sprint's Achilles heel. It may have a solid backbone, but that backbone is brittle and hollow. Get this company some much needed vitamin D and calcium suppliments STAT!